Remote control mechanism



' Nov. 19, 1940.

w. MYEYDER ETAL 2,222,420

REMOTE CONTROL MECHANISM 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 I Filed April 11, 1940 G gi"? 2 A? 5 g bgmg INVENTORS,

' ATTO EY.

Nov. 19, 1940.

w. MEYER m-AL REMOTE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed April 11, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTORS, erffin am" 6171 0122, \fly f0 '6.

ATTORNEY.

Nov. 19, 1940. w. MEYER ETAL REMOTE CONTROL MECHANISM 7 Filed April "11, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet} Nov. 19, 1940. w. MEYER ET AL REMOTE CONTROL MECHANISM Filed April 11, 1940 4 Shgets-Sheet 4 INVENT OR.

ATTORNEY.

Patented Nov. 19, 1940 UNITED STATES REMOTE. CONTROL MECHANISM William Meyer, East Orange, and Howard C. Krone, Weehawken, N. J., assignors to A. W. Wheaton Brass Works, Newark, N. J., a. corporation of New Jersey Application April 11, 1940, Serial No. 329,050

8 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in control mechanism for actuating remotely situated devices; and the invention has reference, more 7 particularly, to control mechanism for opening 5 and closing emergency valves at the bottoms of the respective chambers of a compartment tank, and especially of truck tanks and the like in which oil, gasoline or other fluids are transported.

In compartment truck tanks, fluid. discharge piping ordinarily leads from the bottom of the compartments to remotely located corresponding faucets or other discharge means or connections, and such arrangement usually includes self-closing emergency valve means between each tank compartment and its discharge piping, whereby loss of fluid is prevented in the event of accidental injury to said discharge piping, as well as prevention of dangerous fluid discharge in the event of fire. Preparatory to discharge of fluid from a given tank compartment, means is provided for first opening the emergency valve thereof and thereupon holding the same open during the desired period of fluid discharge; such means being located in conveniently accessible position remote from said emergency valves. It is an object of this invention to provide novel control means for thus opening and holding open one or more or all of the tank compartment emergency valves at will, While addi- 3 tionally providing means, manually actuatable from a point distant therefrom, for quickly releasing such control means to permit all open emergency valves to close in the event of accident or fire hazard, as well as thermally responsive means to automatically effect such release.

This invention has for a further object to provide, in combination with manipulatable emergency valve control levers, novel detent means for holding actuated levers in valve opening position, cooperative with which is a novel trip or release means common to all control levers, including means for both manually and by automatic thermal action actuating said trip or release means.

Other objects of this invention, not at this time more particularly enumerated, will be understood from the following detailed description of the same.

An illustrative embodiment of a control mechanism according to this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a control mechanism according to this invention; Fig. 2 is a vertical cross sectional view therethrough, taken on line 22 in Fig. .1; Fig. 3 is, a view similar to that of Fig. 2, but showinga control lever in the process of 'beingshand released for return to normal initial position; Fig. 4 is a fragmentary View similar to that of Fig. 2, but showingthe actuation of the control lever trip or release "5 means by remotely situate manual operating means; Fig. 5'is' a fragmentaryvertical crosssectional view, taken on line 5-5 in Fig. 1; and Fig. 6 is adetail sectional view through the trip or release meansgthe section being taken 10 on line 66 inFig. 2.

Similar characters'of reference are employed in the above described views, to indicate corresponding parts. 1 i

The control mechanism, in the illustrative form thereof shown in=the accompanying drawings, is of the type adapted to be mounted at the rear end of a compartment tank truck (not shown), to the emergency valves of which the levers'of the control mechanism are connected go by flexible pull cables. 1

Provided in connection with a plurality of spaced frame brackets ID, or other suitableform of supporting framework, are aligned bearing portions II in and by which is supported'a ML crum shaft l2.- Pivotallymounted on said fulcrum shaft l2 are upstanding hand levers l3 corresponding in number. .to the number of emergency valve equipped tank compartments to be served by the control mechanism. Each hand lever 13 is provided, in suitably spaced relation to and outwardly of its fulcrum, with a quadrant sheave l4 suitably affixed thereto, preferably being cast therewith as an integral part thereof.

Secured to each quadrant sheave 14, to extend over the same and forwardly therefrom; is a pull cable l5, which extends to and is operatively connected with a selected tankcompartment emergency valve structure. Preferably each pull cable l5 passes through a tubular conduit 16 arranged to extend between the control mechanism and the emergency valve structure served by the cable. At the control mechanism end thereof. each conduit I6 is connected by a suitable coupling or union ll which is screwed into or otherwise secured to a suitably located transverse carrier bar I8, the latter being connected to and across the frame brackets ill or other framework of the control mechanism.

Means are provided for affixing each cable I5 to its actuating quadrant sheave, and to this end the quadrant sheave I4 of each lever I3 is provided With an outer end portion I!) having an associated anchor clamp 20, the screw-threaded shank ,2| of which projects downwardly 5 latch pawls.

projecting tail-piece 26 which lies across a side face of the hand lever l3 by which the pawl is carried. A pull-spring. 21 connected between the tail-piece 26 and an anchorage 28 affixed to the hand lever, yieldably swings said latch pawl in operative direction. Each hand lever I3 carries manipulatable means for swinging said latch pawl to a released position, said means comprisinga slide-bar 29 longitudinally movable lengthwise of the lever through bearing guides 30 which support it. -The lower end of this slidebar- 29 bears against thelatch pawl tail-piece 26'. At its 'free end portion, .each lever I3 is provided with;a hand grip 3l.. Pivotally connected with a fulcrum knuckle 32 which projects from the lever adjacently below its hand grip 3| is a slidebar: actuating cam33 from which extends, normally divergent to the hand grip 3|, an actuating grip lever 34. Said fulcrum knuckle 32 is provided with a stop nosing 35 engageable by said grip lever '34, whereby the latter is disposed in normal initial position under the up-thrust of the slide-bar 29 as yieldably supported by the spring urged upswing of the latch pawl tail piece,26.. 7

Journaled in and between additional bearing portions 36With which the frame brackets ID are provided, and so as to' .be disposed in parallel rearwardly spaced or offset relation to'said fulcrum shaft i2, is a rotatable shaft 31 which is engageable by the latch pawls :23, when the hand levers 3 carrying the latter are rearwardly swung to pull open the emergency valves served thereby, whereby actuatedhand levers l3 are held insuch valve opening position. In order to facilitate engaging and disengagin movements of the'latch pawlsv relative to said shaft 31, antifriction' rollers 38 are 'rotatably mounted on the latter at the points thereof engageable by said When an actuated hand lever l 3 is swung rearwardly to pull open an emergency valve or the like, the-latch pawl 23 thereof will yieldingly ride over a cooperating roller 38 supported by the shaft 3'! so as to hook its hook-like end portion 24' thereover (as shown by'broken lines in Fig. '2 and in full lines in Fig. 5), thereby arresting the hand lever'l3 and holding the same against return to normal initial position, whereby the remote valve or the like which has been pulled'open, remains open.

When it is desired to close an opened emergency valve, after a desired period of fluid discharge therethrough has been consummated, the operator grasps the lever hand grip 3| together with the grip lever 34, and, by pressing the latter inward, operates "the cam 33 to thrust downward the slide-bar 29, thus depressing the latch pawl tail-piece 26 against the tension of the associated pull-spring "21, thereby turning the latch pawl to swing upwardly its "hook-like end portion 24, to disengage the latter from the shaft 3'! and roller 38 (see Fig. 3-); The-latch-pawl 23 being thus released, the hand lever 13 may be manual- 1y swung back to initial position, thus relaxing the pull on cable l5 served thereby so that the controlled emergency valve (which is usually of the spring pressed self-closing type) may resume its normal closed condition.

The trip or release means for releasing all actuated hand levers both manually from a remote point and, by automatic thermal action comprises the following:

Fixed on the rotatable shaft 31 adjacent to each latch pawl engageable roller 38, is a trip element 39 provided with a radial arm 40 from which extends a laterally projecting trip stud 4|, which, when the trip element 39 is rotatively moved, is adapted to be swung upwardly by the arm 40 into up-thrusting engagement with the thrust face 25 of an adjacent arrested latch pawl 23 so as to release the latter from engagement with the roller 38 cooperating therewith, and consequently releasing the hand lever l3 for return to normal initial position with consequent closing of the emergency valve served-thereby. Sincethese trip elements 39 are all afilxed to the rotatable shaft 31, rotary movement imparted to any one thereof will be transmitted by said shaft to all, and consequently any one or more hand 25 levers I3 occupying arrested actuated, position will be simultaneously released.

To actuate the trip or release means manually from a remote point, one of the trip elements 39 is provided with a radial thrust lug 42. Pivotally fulcrumed y its hub 43 on the shaft 31 adjacent to such trip element is an actuator lever 44 having a push-finger 45 to engage said thrust lug 42. Extending radially from said hub 4315 an arm 4.6. Connected with said arm 46 is one end of a pull-spring 46, the other end of which is suitably anchored to a frame bracket in. This pull-spring 46' yieldably retains the actuator lever 44 in a normal initial inactive position. Secured, by a coupling yoke 41 or other suitable means of connection, to the free end of said actuator lever 44 is a pull cable 48 which may be extended to a desired distant or remote point from which manual operation of the trip or release means is desired to be initiated, as e. g. from a point adjacent to the front end of a tank truck. It will "be obvious that by exertion of a pull upon the cable 48 the actuator lever 44 will be swung forward against the tension of the pullspring 46', whereby its push-finger 45 will be moved against the thrust lug 42 of the adjacent trip element 39, thereby imparting a rotative movement to the latter, and through the shaft 31 to all other trip elements, so as to effect release of any hand lever arresting latch-pawls in the manner already explained.

To cause actuation of the trip orrelease means by automatic thermal action, another of the trip elements 39 is likewise provided with a radial thrust lug 42. Pivotally fulcrumed by its hub 49 on the shaft 3! adjacent to this trip element is an actuator lever'5ll having a push finger 5| to engage said thrust 111g 42. Connected with said actuator lever 50 is one end of a pull-spring 52, the other end of which is suitably anchored to a frame bracket l0. Extending radially from said hub 49 is an arm 53, having adjacent its end a laterally projecting coupler stud 54. Provided in connection with an adjacent frame bracket I0 is a fixed anchor stud 55. Connected between said coupler stud 54 and anchor stud 55 is a fusible link 56. This fusible link 56 normally restrains the actuator lever 50 against operative movement under the pull of the spring 52. In the event of fire occurring in the vicinity .of the control mechanism, the resultant heat to which the fusible link 56 is subjected will cause the latter to melt and part, thereby releasing the actuator lever 50 subject to operative swinging movement under the pull of said spring 52. Such operative swinging movement of the actuator lever 50 will move its push finger 5| against the thrust lug 42 of the adjacent trip element 39, thereby imparting a rotative movement to the latter, and through the shaft 31 to all other trip elements, so as to effect release of any hand lever arresting latch pawls in the manner above described.

While we have shown for the purposes of illustration but two hand levers l3, it will be obvious that as many more may be used as there are more valves to be served in any given case.

In the novel control mechanism described each valve is served by its own actuating hand lever, and consequently the valves may be singly opened selectively, or any one or more of the valves may be opened at the same time. It will be understood, however, that no matter how many hand levers may be disposed in arrested actuated position, they may and will all be simultaneously released upon actuation of trip or release devices either manually from a remote point or by automatic thermal action as the case may be. As a consequence of this, while the convenience of separate or individual actuating means is provided for each valve to be served, nevertheless the trip or release devices are common to and cooperative with all said several actuating means, and, therefore, the safety factors desirable of attainment are efficiently and fully realized in the novel control mechanism of this invention.

Although the invention has been described in detail, it is not to be limited to the exact constructions as shown because various modifications may be made within the spirit of this invention. It is therefore intended that the matter contained in the above description or shown in the accompanying drawings shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

1. A control mechanism for the purposes described, a pivoted hand lever having a pull cable extending therefrom to a remote device adapted to be actuated thereby, a latch means for holding said hand lever in actuated position, rotative trip means operable to displace said latch means from holding position, a pivotal spring returned actuator lever having means adapted to impart operative rotative movement to said trip means, a pull cable extending from said actuator lever to a remote point from which operation thereof is desired to be manually initiated, a pivoted spring operated actuator lever also having means to impart operative rotative movement to said trip means, and a thermal release device to normally restrain said last named actuator lever against operation by its spring.

2. In control mechanism for the purposes described, a pivoted hand lever having a pull cable extending therefrom to a remote device adapted to be actuated thereby, a latch-pawl pivotally mounted on said hand lever, spring means to yieldably urge said latch-pawl in latching direction, means engageable by said latch-pawl to hold said hand lever in actuated position, manually operable means carried by said hand lever for releasing said latch-pawl, a rotative trip means operable to displace said latch-pawl from latching position, a pivoted spring returned actuator lever having means adapted to impart operative rotative movement to said trip means, a pull cable extending from said actuator lever to a remote point from which operation thereof is desired to be manually initiated, a pivoted spring operated actuator lever also having means to impart operative rotative movement to said trip means, and a thermal release device to normally restrain said last named actuator lever against operation by its spring.

3. In a control mechanism for the purposes described, a plurality of hand levers pivotally mounted side by side on a common fulcrum axis, each said hand lever having a pull cable extending therefrom to one of a plurality of remote devices adapted to be actuated thereby, each hand lever having a latch means for holding the same in actuated position, a rotatable shaft crossing behind said hand levers in offset relation thereto and engageable by the latch means thereof when the same are swung back to actuated position, trip elements aflixed to said shaft respectively adjacent to the engaging position of each hand lever latch means, said trip elements having means operative on rotation thereof to displace hand lever latch means from latched relation to said shaft, a spring retracted actuator lever pivotally fulcrumed on said shaft adjacent to one of said trip elements, said actuator lever and the latter trip element having cooperative means whereby operative swinging movement of the former imparts rotative movement to the latter and through said shaft at all other trip elements, and a pull cable extending from said actuator lever to a remote point from. which operation thereof is desired to be manually initiated.

4. In a control mechanism for the purposes described, a plurality of hand levers pivotally mounted side by side on a common fulcrum axis, each said hand lever having a pull cable extending therefrom to one of a plurality of remote devices adapted to be actuated thereby, each hand lever having a latch means for holding the same in actuated position, a rotatable shaft crossing behind said hand levers in offset relation thereto and engageable by the latch means thereof when the same are swung back to actuated position, trip elements affixed to said shaft respectively adjacent to the engaging position of each hand lever latch means, said trip elements having means operative on rotation thereof to displace hand lever latch means from latched relation to said shaft, a spring operated actuator lever pivotally furcrumed on said shaft adjacent to one of said trip elements, said actuator lever and the latter trip element having cooperative means whereby operative spring actuated swinging movement of the former imparts rotative movement to the latter and through the shaft to all other trip elements, and a thermal release device to normally restrain said actuator lever against operation by itsspring.

5. In a control mechanism for the purposes described, a plurality of hand levers pivotally mounted side by side on a common fulcrum axis, each said hand lever having a pull cable extending therefrom to one of a plurality of remote devices adapted to be actuated thereby, each hand lever having a latch means for holding the same in actuated position, a rotatable shaft crossing behind said hand levers in offset relation thereto and engageable by the latch means thereof when the same are swung back to actuated position, trip elements affixed to said shaft respectively adjacent to the engaging position of each hand lever latch means, said trip elements having means operative on rotation thereof to displace hand lever latch means from latched relation to said shaft, a spring retracted actuator lever pivotally fulcrumed on said shaft adjacent to one of said trip elements, said actuator lever and the latter trip element having cooperative means whereby operative swinging movement of .the former imparts rotative movement to the latter and through said shaft to all other trip elements, and a pull cable extending from said actuator lever to 'a remote pointfrom which operation thereof is desired to be manually initiated, a second spring operated actuator lever also pivotally fulcrumed on said shaft adjacent to another of said trip elements, said second actuator lever and said last named trip element likewise having cooperativemeans whereby operative spring actuated swinging movement of the former imparts rotative movement to the latter and through the shaft to all other trip elements, and a thermal release device to normally restrain said second actuator lever against operation by its spring.

6. A control mechanism for the purposes described as defined in claim 3, wherein said latch means of each hand lever comprises a latch-pawl pivotally mounted thereon, spring means to yieldably urge the latch-pawl in latching direction, and manually operable means carried by the hand lever for releasing the latch-pawl.

'7. A control mechanism for the 'purposes'described as defined in claim 4, wherein said latch meansof each hand lever comprises a latch-pawl pivotally mounted thereon, spring means to yieldably urge the latch-pawl in latching direction, and manually operable means carried by the hand lever for releasing the latch-pawl.

8. A control mechanism for the purposes described as defined in claim 5, wherein said latch means of each hand lever comprises a latch-pawl pivotally mounted thereon, spring means to yieldably urge the latch-pawl in latching direction, and manually operable means carried by the hand lever for releasing the latch-pawl.

WILLIAM MEYER. HOWARD C. KRONE. 

